The Ultimate Threat
by Anphibium
Summary: The Z fighters face their greatest threat yet, Galactus, the Almighty Devourer of Worlds! DBZMarvel comics crossover.
1. Prologue

NOTE: This takes place in the DBU at the end of Z (as far as I'm concerned GT never happened) and in the MU around the time of FF#48. I do not own DragonballZ or Marvel Comics.

Chapter 1: Prologue

"Come on, Goku!"

"I'm not so sure…."

"Come on, how am I supposed to get stronger if you won't train me with your full power?" the young Uub pleaded.

"Well, okay. But only once."

The short, dark – skinned youth smiled in anticipation, as his sensei acknowledged his request.

Suddenly, massive temblors shook the landscape, and hills on the horizon began to crumble. Goku underwent a stunning transformation, as his eyes glowed green and he was enveloped by a fierce yellow aura. His hair, previously an unruly cluster of spikes, now became a flowing golden mane across his back.

"That's amazing!" screamed Uub, apparently oblivious to the powerful shockwaves tearing the landscape apart.

"I think that's enough for now," replied Goku, as he reversed the transformation and the tremors subsided.

"Someday I'm going to be just as strong, just you wait!" Cried out the young warrior.

Meanwhile:

A solitary silver object streaked through hyperspace at a pace even greater than that of light itself. The Silver Surfer, Herald of the almighty Galactus, the Devourer of Worlds, used his cosmic senses to scan the galaxy for his master's next meal. He had found a few prospective new worlds, and was about to decide on which one to pick, when he suddenly was distracted by something and focused his complete attention on a small planet halfway down one of the larger arms of the spiral galaxy he was traversing.

"Such incredible power!" he thought. Anything capable of generating that much power would be able to satiate his master's hunger for months! He concentrated his cosmic senses on the planet from which the power surge originated, and discovered that instead of just one powerful being, it harbored over a dozen! In addition, the planet itself was rich with the life energy that Galactus must feed off of to survive. He immediately set course for the planet at maximum speed. 


	2. The Silver Surfer arrives

Chapter 2: Arrival of the Silver Surfer

Gohan was on routine patrol in West City, under the guise of the Great Saiyaman.  
As he flew through the streets, everything seemed to be in order.  
Suddenly, he spotted something hovering above a rather tall Skyscraper.  
Immediately moving to confront the unknown object, he got a better look.

It appeared to be a man with a shining silver body, standing on what appeared to be a surfboard of the same color. At first he seemed to be wearing no clothes, but after closer scrutiny Gohan realize he was wearing a pair of shorts the same color as his body. Gohan flew up to the man.  
"Excuse me, I don't know who you are," he said in a feigned heroic voice, "but allow me to introduce myself. I am -" at this point he broke into a series of ridiculous looking poses. "The Great-" the poses continued. "Saiyaman.  
The silver man, apparently unimpressed with the would - be hero's display, gave him an odd look and then flew a few feet downwards. He closed his eyes and appeared to be concentrating. Just then, the large TV screen on a nearby skyscraper broke into static. Little did Gohan know, but the same was happening to every TV and computer screen on the planet. The strange man's face then appeared on the screens. He spoke:  
"Attention, inhabitants of this planet. I am the Silver Surfer, the Herald of Galactus, Devourer of Worlds. Your planet has been selected to sustain my master with its life energies. He will be arriving soon to consume this world. Please make any preparations your culture requires for death before he arrives".

This immediately took Gohan's attention. He appeared in front of the Surfer and challenged him. "No one is going to eat the earth if I have anything to say about it"  
"Unfortunately, you have no say in the matter," replied the Surfer. "My master must feed on the life energy of planets to survive. This planet is abundant in the energies he needs. Galactus does not do this out of evil or malice, merely hunger. He is a force of nature which cannot be thwarted"  
"We'll see about that!" said Gohan as he threw a punch at the Herald. It was instantly blocked by the intruder, and as Gohan prepared to throw another, his enemy suddenly disappeared. Looking around, Gohan found his target several hundred meters away, hovering over a different city block.  
"Time to get serious," said the young hero as he cupped his hands in a distinctive motion. "KA - ME - HA - ME - HA!" he screamed, as a furious blue beam of ki erupted from his palms. The Silver Surfer just kept standing there as it approached him, then he held up his right hand a blinding white flash of light momentarily obscured Gohan's vision. When it has subsided, the beam was still there, but it passed straight through the Surfer harmlessly!  
"What? How?" thought Gohan aloud. "I transmuted your attack into harmless light,"replied his enemy. Gohan was instantly aware that this was serious. He couldn't risk fighting this being here in the city, where casualties would quickly stack up. He would have to lead him away from here. He decided to try reasoning with his opponent.  
"Listen, Mr. Surfer or whatever you call yourself, we can't fight here! People's lives will be at stake"  
"Why does it matter?" replied the cosmic being. "They will all be dead when Galactus arrives"  
"That's not going to happen!" shouted Gohan in reply. "I'm going to make sure you and your master never hurt this planet or its people"  
"You may try," replied the Surfer, realizing now that this strange youth would not leave until he was given a fight. "I will allow you to choose the battleground."

And that's the end of chapter 2. R&R, please. 


	3. The first battle

Chapter 3: The first battle

The Silver Surfer flew steadily, keeping pace with the odd being he had met. They traveled hundreds of miles northeast, until they reached a barren desert. The being, who called himself 'The Great Saiyaman', then stopped.  
"This will be fine," he said as he landed on a rock outcropping.  
The Surfer landed on another peak, a few hundred feet away, holding his board under his shoulder.  
"We do not have to do this," he said. "Galactus will arrive soon and when he does, the outcome of this battle will be irrelevant"  
"Sorry, no can do," replied Gohan. "It's my duty to defend this planet, no matter how powerful the threat is"  
"Very well," replied the Surfer. "Then shall we begin?"

"Let's!" shouted Gohan as he charged at the glowing otherworldly being. He attacked with a flurry of punches and kicks that the Surfer just barely managed to stay ahead of.  
The Surfer was surprised at the speed and agility his opponent was demonstrating. He managed to dodge at first, but then a blow hit home. The Herald of Galactus went flying upwards into the atmposphere.  
He steadied himself, and reflected on the new situation.  
"He is superior in hand - to - hand combat," the Surfer thought, "but I am possessed of the Power Cosmic! And although I am not a warrior at heart, I have often be chosen to fill that role in my travels. He will be in for an unpleasant surprise now"  
He darted downwards at a speed outracing even photons themselves, and hit Gohan with a massive punch. Gohan went flying into the ground, creating an enormous crater. He tried to recover and attack again, but he was nailed by a cosmic blast that buried him deeper in the earth.  
Gohan flew upwards, attempting to land another hit on the Surfer, but before he could, the silvery being darted across the horizon. However, he was immediately back as he hit Gohan again with a deadly impact, sending him careening through a nearby mountain. The young hero quickly recovered from the blow, and fired a barrage of ki blasts at his enemy. However, they all bounced off of a forcefield the Surfer had erected around himself, some of them being deflected up into space and the others into the ground, pockmarking the land with huge craters.  
The Surfer launched another cosmic salvo, which hit Gohan square in the chest and knocked the wind out of him. He recovered, but he was now bloodied, bruised, and scratched all over, whereas his opponent was in perfect form.

Meanwhile, Goku and Uub were visiting Mr. Satan and his friend, Majin Buu.  
"So what do you think of this Silver Surfer guy?" asked Mr. Satan, worriedly. "You think he's serious"  
"I don't know," replied Goku. "I haven't sensed any strange ki since the broadcast, but it never hurts to be sure.  
Just then, Goku and Uub detected Gohan's distinctive ki signature.  
"That's Gohan!" Uub exclaimed. "It feels like he s fighting someone"  
"Let's go check it out," replied Goku.  
"Buu come with you!" Yelled the corpulent blob.  
"You guys be careful, okay?" said Mr. Satan as they left.

"This guy is tough," though Gohan to himself. "I guess I'm going to have to go mystic"  
Immediately, the Surfer noticed a huge surge of enery coming from his young adversary. It was even greater than the energy he had first detected that led him to this planet. The young man's appearance was unchanged, but his power was off the scale, and it was reverberating and shaking the entire landscape.  
Before he could react, the Silver Surfer was immediately blitzed by a flurry of punches and kicks, coming too fast for him to predict. He was launched backwards into a hillside, but before he crashed into the ground, Gohan appeared behind him and knocked him back the way he had came. He landed roughly on the desert floor, stabilizing himself, as Gohan prepared another attack.  
"KA - ME - HA - ME - HA!" the young man screamed, as another blue bolt of ki was launched. The Surfer reached out his hand to transmute it like he had before, but before he could, Gohan appeared behind him and hit him downwards with a double - handed impact. Gohan flew upwards and prepared to fire again. "KA - ME - HA - ME - HA!" he screamed, as his attack buried the Surfer in the ground, pushing him through miles and miles of the earth's crust and into its molten mantle.  
Once the beam had stopped, the Surfer flew upwards out of the mantle and back into the sky, but was blitzed again by a barrage of punches and kicks.  
"Enough!" he screamed, as a forcefield erupted from his body and repelled Gohan several meters.  
"It is time to end this." The Silver Surfer held out his hand, and it glowed with an unearthly light. Gohan's ki aura began to bend and distort strangely, then escaped in small strands up to the Surfer's hand. The strands merged into a massive river of ki, leaking out of Gohan's body at an enormous rate.  
Gohan collapsed to his knees.  
"I - I can't move. What did you do"  
"I drained your energy," replied his opponent. "I could have ended this battle any time I wanted, I only kept it up this long to gain further information on the threat posed by the inhabitants of this planet." "You, I -" at that, Gohan collapsed into unconsciousness.  
Suddenly, the Surfer detected 3 massive energy readings arriving. Goku, Uub, and Buu were on the scene.  
"Hey, you're that Silver Surfer guy! The one who threatened to eat the planet!" yelled Uub.  
"No, it is my master-" The Surfer was cut off in midsentence by Goku, sounding furious.  
"What did you do to Gohan?" he screamed.  
"He will be fine," replied the Surfer.  
"Well, you won't!" yelled Uub, as all 3 fighters charged him. 


	4. The Surfer's Tale

Chapter 4: The Surfer's Tale

"Buu turn you into candy!" screamed the pink blob, as an arcing, magical beam was transmitted from the antenna on his head toward the Surfer. The attack found its mark, and after a bright flash, the powerful cosmic being had been transformed into a cholocate bar!  
"Buu, you did it!" yelled Uub in victory. However, it turned out he had spoken too soon, as a white flash blinded Goku, Buu, and Uub temporarily, and after it subsided, the Surfer was back to normal.  
"Transmutation. I was not expecting that. Still, you will find you are not the only one so capable," intoned the Herald of Galactus as he fired a bright white beam of energy at Majin Buu. The energy consumed him, and after it left his being, the mystical monster was now a solid stone statue!  
Goku, enraged, charged at the Surfer, but before he could move a single inch, the Surfer was already over 100 feet in the air, soaring up into the stratosphere. Goku attempted to follow, but as soon as he left the upper atmosphere, he started coughing and hacking due to lack of oxygen, and the Surfer was continuing unimpeded.  
Goku fired a ki blast, but his silvery target effortlessly dodged it and then sped off out of sight.

"He got away," deduced Uub as Goku returned to earth.  
"Don't worry, we'll get him," replied Goku, as he picked up Gohan's unconscious body.  
"I'm taking Gohan home. Be careful." Those were Goku's last words before he departed the scene using his instant transmission technique. Meanwhile, in high earth orbit, the Silver Surfer was preparing to summon his master. He expanded his cosmic senses and detected the great power of mighty Galactus. Stretching his arms in that direction, he let loose a brilliant flare of energy that would serve as a beacon to summon his master to this planet.

Several hours later, the Surfer decided to return to the earth. He entered the atmosphere, glowing like a meteor, and stopped on a dime at around 30,000 feet above sea level. Flying even lower at a slower pace, he reached the ocean. As he soared over the waves, he saw how they reflected the radiant sunlight.  
"This is truly a beautiful planet. It is a shame it will soon be gone," he thought. His thoughts were soon interrupted as he spotted a small island up ahead. There appeared to be one tree and a small pink house on it. The Surfer slowed down to inspect this peculiar landmark. As he circled the island at an altitude of a few hundred feet, he suddenly heard shouting coming from within.  
Just then, a woman exited the house and flew up to confront him.  
"You're that Silver Surfer freak, aren't you?" she asked angrily.  
"My cosmic senses indicate you are a cyborg," he replied. "A precisely tuned burst of electromagnetic energy along the correct spectrum frequency should instantly incapacitate you"  
By that time, a rather short man had exited the house and had flown up to join them.  
"Listen buddy, I don't know exactly what you just said," he began, "But it sounds to me like you're threatening my wife, and I'm not going to stand for that"  
"I admire your bravery, but not your foolishness," replied the Surfer, as he subconsciously began to draw on his cosmic power reserves.  
Master Roshi had been watching the scene from below with ever growing nervousness. He had sensed Gohan's power spike to enormous levels earlier but then suddenly disappear, and he was pretty sure this "Silver Surfer" character was responsible. He decided to try something. Running outside, the old man screamed:  
"Hey, Surfer guy! You don't need to fight anyone! Why don't we just come inside and talk it over?"

The Surfer looked down at the ancient martial arts master, and slowly nodded his head.  
"Yes," he said. "That would be acceptable." This stunned everyone around, especially Roshi. He was incredulous, it had actually worked? It was best not to question a miracle, he decided, and went back inside, awaiting his guest.  
Up in the sky, the trio descended slowly to the ground. The Surfer picked up his board and carried it inside.  
"Here, have a seat, Mr. um... Surfer," said Krillin nervously. The Herald of Galactus acknowledged the gesture and sat down on the couch.  
"What do you wish to discuss?" he asked.  
"Well you can start with why you and your master want to snack on our planet!" demanded Eighteen.  
"Very well. However, I must inform you that it is a long tale. I was not always the Silver Surfer. Once I was known as Norrin Radd of the planet Zenn-La. Our people had explored the universe ages ago, and now space travel was relegated to our distant past. Everything we ever wanted was easily available through simulations. However, I was not content with this life of idleness. One day, our planet came under threat from the being known as Galactus, the Devourer of Worlds. We deployed our most powerful countermeasure, the Weapon Supreme, but it failed to do anything against the menace. As he was about to consume our world, I flew up alone in an antique spacecraft and offered my services to be his Herald, to help him seek out and consume planets, if he would spare Zenn-la. He accepted, bestowing a small fraction of his power onto me, and I was transformed into the Silver Surfer. I quickly found another planet for Galactus to eat, and Zenn-la was safe. However, I was forever isolated from my home, cursed to roam the stars to find sustenance for Galactus. That is why I am here today."

"That's an interesting story," replied Krillin, "and it certainly answers the question, but still there's one problem: WE DON'T WANT TO GET EATEN"  
"I am truly sorry," replied Norrin, "But there is nothing I can do. The will of Galactus is absolute"  
"What if we could convince you this planet was worth saving?" asked Eighteen.  
"You may try," was the Surfer's response.

For the next several hours, the inhabitants of Kame House told tales to the one once known as Norrin Radd. Tales of daring, tales of happiness, tales of loss, tales of courage and bravery, tales of terror, all the tales of their struggles against threats to the earth.  
After they were done, the Surfer sat amazed. He had never suspected the struggles these beings had gone through to preserve their planet. It was simply inconcievable. He even thought for a split second that they might find some way of defeating Galactus, but immediately banished the thought from his mind. Still, it would be a horrible travesty that all that effort to protect the earth was ultimately wasted.  
"Well, what is your answer," asked Roshi, after the Surfer had spent a few minutes contemplating what they had told him.

He paused for a few seconds, then finally uttered "I will assist you".

Next chapter: The Coming of Galactus! 


	5. The Coming of Galactus

Chapter 5: The Coming of Galactus 

"Uugh, where am I?" asked Gohan as he finally came to in the middle of Bulma's living room.  
"Gohan! You're okay!" Uub yelled in relief.  
"I guess. What happened to the Silver Surfer?" he asked.  
"I am here," came a solemn voice in response.  
Gohan looked around for the source of the voice, and saw the very man that had defeated him in battle.

"You! What are you doing here?"  
Gohan braced himself for a fight, but was interrupted by his father.  
"It's okay, Gohan. He's on our side now."

"What?" Gohan asked incredulously.  
"It true! Shiny man help us!" yelled out Buu, whom the Surfer had recently restored from his petrified state.  
"Are you nuts? How can we possibly trust him?" Gohan asked, still in disbelief.  
"Good question!" chimed in Vegeta. "I'm not buying this defection for a minute".

"Please, you have to understand," responded the Surfer, "I never wanted to become the Herald of Galactus. I desire nothing more than to return to my world of Zenn-la."  
"Come on, guys, we can trust him. I can tell," said Goku.  
"Well, if you say so, dad. I believe you," replied Gohan.  
"Hmmph," snorted Vegeta in annoyance.

Just then Krillin, Yamcha, and Tien entered the room.  
"We've found all seven of them, we're read when you guys are!" said Krillin.  
"Found all seven of what?" inquired the Surfer.  
"The dragonballs," responded Tien. "And I'll tell you, it was a pain getting the last one. It was guarded by a nest of dinosaurs and-"  
"Just hurry up!" yelled Vegeta impatiently.

"Fine, fine, no need to get all worked up over it," said Krillin as he lead the way outside. The Surfer picked up his board from where he had left it on the table and followed. He had heard of these 'dragonballs' from the tales he had recently been told of this planet, but he was still unprepared for the reality of it.  
"Eternal dragon, I summon you," yelled Bulma as she stood over the collected artifacts. "Shenron!"  
Just then, an electric glow surrounded the balls, and a lightning bolt shot up into the sky. The sky itself turned black and lightning streaked across the clouds. A bolt of glowing energy resolved into a distinctly serpentine shape, and then changed form into a massive snake - like dragon. The Surfer was absolutely stunned at the sheer enormity of the thing. In all of his travels across the universe, he had never encountered such a majestic creature, with the exception of his former master, Galactus. Then the dragon spoke:  
"What is your wish?" it asked in a deep, booming voice.  
"Shenron, we wish that Galactus, the Devourer of Worlds, was no more!" shouted Bulma at the top of her lungs.  
"That wish is far beyond my power. Choose another," replied the dragon.  
"Well, it was worth a shot," said Krillin disappointedly.  
Ignoring him, Bulma continued: "Dragon, we wish that Galactus would spare this world."  
"My power is insufficient to blunt the will of the World Devourer," replied Shenron. "Make a different wish."  
Bulma thought for a few minutes, and then said "I wish the earth was hidden from Galactus."  
"Nothing I can do can conceal the planet from his cosmic senses," replied Shenron. "Make a different wish."

"Oh, this is hopeless!" screamed Bulma.  
"I at least wish we knew when he was coming," said Yamcha thoughtlessly.  
"Galactus will arrive in 20 minutes and 41 seconds," replied the dragon. "What is your second wish?"  
"Yamcha you dolt! You wasted our wish!" screamed Bulma in anger. "Um, Shenron, you might want to hold off on that second wish for now. We'll save it for later, okay?" she said.  
"Very well," replied Shenron as he disappeared into 7 streaks of light that scattered across the sky. The daylight returned and the dragonballs were gone.

"This is bad, this is very bad." said the Surfer.  
"I don't see the problem," replied Vegeta arrogantly. "When this Galactus arrives, we'll just destroy him"  
"You know not of what you speak." said the Surfer quickly.  
"Oh, and I suppose you have a better plan?" asked Vegeta, a note of threat in his voice.  
"Whoa, whoa guys, break it up," said Goku. "I'm sure we'll think of something."

Suddenly, the Surfer turned his head skyward and looked intently into the air.  
"He has entered the solar system," Norrin Radd proclaimed. "I shall see if I can deter him diplomatically."  
The Surfer flew up out of sight, and within seconds he had cleared the atmosphere. Entering into hyperspace, he crossed the solar system easily and met Galactus just beyond Neptune.

"My Herald, you have done well," proclaimed the Devourer. "The planet you have selected is rich with life energies. I shall begin to feed immediately""Master, I was just thinking. Perhaps this planet is not as perfect as I originally told you. However, there is another planet some 20 parsecs from here that would make a most excellent meal."  
"Herald, I sense something wrong with you. Allow me to probe your mind." After a few second, the mighty Galactus' face contorted with rage.  
"I see. They have corrupted you, poisoned your mind with their filthy thoughts. Begone from my sight!"  
With a gesture, Galactus send the Surfer hurling backwards through the solar system, and back towards earth. He hit the ground with the force of a hundred nuclear warheads, but luckily impacted in the middle of a desert so no one was harmed. The Surfer slowly climbed out of the massive crater his impact had caused, with a grim look on his face.  
"I didn't think that would work," he said.

Meanwhile, Galactus continued to approach.

Next: The Battle against Galactus!


	6. The Battle against Galactus

Chapter 6: The Battle Against Galactus 

The people of earth gasped and looked skyward as a massive shape filled the sky. It was a shining silver sphere, the starship belonging to the dreaded Galactus. It parked itself in high orbit, and from it emerged an ominous figure. His basic appearance was human, however he was over 20 feet tall and covered in dark purple and red armor. He wore a helmet with two massive protrusions on the top. The overall effect was one of great power and menace. Then, Galactus spoke. His voice, resonating through his cosmic powers, reached everyone on the planet simultaneously.  
"It is time. This planet shall die so that Galactus may live!" Little did he know, however, that that was just the cue Goku and the others were waiting for.  
"Now! Attack!" yelled Goku, as he powered up to SSJ1 mode and charged the massive being. He was followed by all the other heroes of earth, as well as the Silver Surfer. Goku and Gohan started off the attack by hitting Galactus with a barrage of ki blasts, yet they had no discernable effect. Buu fired his transmutation beam from his antenna, but it did absolutely nothing to the World Devourer. The heroes flew around Galactus, attacking him like mosquitos biting at a target, yet he completely ignored them. After a few seconds, Goten and Trunks withdrew from the battle temporarily and assumed a distinctive pose.  
"Fu-Sion-Ha!" they yelled, as they merged into Gotenks, who went SSJ3 along with Goku. They both fired powerful ki blasts point blank at Galactus, but to no avail. Meanwhile, Vegeta wasn't having much better luck.

"Final flash! Gallic Gun! Big Bang Attack!" He enunciated as the attacks were launched one after another, only to be deflected or absorbed by the mighty Galactus.  
"Darn it! He's just ignoring everything we throw at him!" yelled Vegeta in frustration. Just then the Silver Surfer zoomed by, blasting his former master with beam after beam of cosmic energy, but his attacks were similarly ineffectual.  
Just then, Goku disengaged from the fighting and attempted to rally the troops.  
"Guys, we need to combine our attacks. That's the only way to beat him!"

Heeding the new strategy, everyone drew back several thousand feet from Galactus, and powered up to their maximum levels.  
After a few seconds of gathering energy, they fired a combined blast consisting of a six - way Kamehameha from Goku, Gohan, Gotenks, Krillin, Yamcha, and Uub, Vegeta's Final flash, Picollo's special beam cannon, Tien's Tri-beam, The Silver Surfer's maximum intensity cosmic wave, and full power ki blasts from Majin Buu and Android 18.  
The attacks merged into an incredible beam of pure destructive energy, and this time Galactus took notice. From his eyes came a glow, then twin beams of tremendous power erupted from them. The beams met the heroes' attack and brushed it aside with the ease of a discharge from a fire hose meeting that of a squirt gun. Everyone managed to dodge the beams before they arrived, yet they were thrown hundreds of feet merely by the proximity of such powerful energies. In the local areas around the beams, the atmosphere itself ignited, the land was scoured, and the oceans boiled. Eventually, the deadly beams arced back into space, disappearing.

"That was horrible!" screamed Uub in terror. "How are we supposed to stand against that kind of firepower?"  
Suddenly Vegeta seized the Silver Surfer by the neck.  
"You! You used to work for this guy, he has to have a weakness somewhere!" yelled Vegeta in anger, and, though he was loathe to admit it, terror.  
"I'm sorry, there isn't - wait, no, there is one thing that could work!" said the Surfer with renewed enthusiasm.

"What is it?" asked Gohan.  
"Galactus needs to use a complicated machine to extract the life energies from a planet," responded Norrin. "If we can destroy it, he might give up"  
"Well why didn't you tell us this in the first place?" asked Vegeta, enraged.

He was cut off by Goku, as he noticed that Galactus had already begun building his machine.  
"Huh, this is going to be way easier than I thought," said 18, as she fired a ki blast at the device. However, a humanoid figure dived in the way of the blast and took it head - on. After the smoke dissipated, the figure was still standing there, unharmed. As they watched, more identical figures appeared from the machine, and several flying spherical objects descended from the Devourer's ship.  
"What are those?" asked Krillin.  
"Galactus' Punisher cyborgs and defense drones," responded the Surfer. "He uses them to prevent just what we're trying to do."  
"Well they aren't going to stop us, are they Kakkarot?" asked Vegeta.  
"Nope. Let's get them!" shouted Goku as the two saiyans charged. They were quickly followed by the rest of their companions.

Goku attacked the first cyborg, battering it around with a flurry of punches. The machine struck back, knocking Goku silly with one punch, but he quickly recovered and blasted its head off. However, he was then mobbed by two more. Up above him, Gotenks, Buu, and the Surfer were engaging the flying defense drones. After two of them had been transmuted into candy, they had somehow developed a forcefield that made them resistant to that attack, yet Buu was doing just fine with physical strikes and ki blasts. The Surfer put down 3 more of the drones with his speed and cosmic blasts, but he was attacked from behind and taken off guard by another one, which was then dispatched by Gotenks. The battle on the ground was faring equally well, with Goku, Vegeta, and Uub tearing through the Punisher cyborgs without much difficulty. Krillin, Picollo, and the others were having a harder time, but they were managing. However, it seemed that for every drone or cyborg they destroyed, 2 more would take its place! Finally, it seemed that Galactus had run out of defenses for his machine, and Goku had a clean shot.  
"Ka - Me - Ha - Me - Ha!" he screamed, as the beam disintegrated the massive mechanism. Galactus looked quite irked, and turned toward them, glowing with rage.

"Uh - oh, this is not good," stated Krillin, as Galactus looked on menacingly. However, instead of attacking, he retreated! Flying back up into space, he entered his spaceship.  
Krillin had his eyes closed and was cowering in fear. He slowly opened them. "Am I dead? Again?" he asked. His question was soon answered when he realized that nothing had happened.  
"So is that it? Did we win?" asked Goku, puzzled. However, the Surfer had a look of unremitting horror on his face.

"It's not over!" he screamed. "Galactus is still going to eat the planet! Except this time, he's going to do it directly!"

Next: Last ditch effort!


	7. Last Ditch Effort

Chapter 7: Last Ditch Effort 

"What do you mean, directly?" asked Gohan.  
"I mean he's going to consume the earth from space without the use of machinery. It's much less efficient, but it's his only recourse after his machines have been destroyed," replied the Surfer.  
"We've got to attack him again! Slow him down, delay him, something!" yelled Eighteen.  
"No, it's hopeless," said Norrin. "It won't do any more good than last time"  
"There has to be something we can do!" yelled Uub in panic.  
"Wait a minute! How long does this process of eating the planet take?" asked Goku.  
"A few minutes, maybe more. Why?" replied the Surfer.  
"I think I've got an idea!" said Goku excitedly.

"A spirit bomb?" asked Krillin skeptically. "Are you sure that will work?"  
"No," replied Goku, "but it's our best bet. Everyone, give me your energy!" Goku raised his arms, and began the process of summoning the ki from everyong throughout the world. He absorbed the ki from his friends and allies first. The Surfer transmuted his own cosmic energy into ki and fed it into Goku's growing spirit bomb, which now encompassed a sphere of at least 5 meters in radius, and it was still growing.  
"We have the same problem we had last time we tried this!" said Vegeta, annoyed. "We have to get every imbecile on earth to voluntarily give up their energy!"  
"Don't worry, I can... persuade them," said the Surfer, as he closed his eyes and concentrated. His cosmic senses reached out to every mind on earth and filled them with a subconscious suggestion, to make them receptive to commands.  
"They should listen now," said the Surfer as he went back to concentrating his energy into the spirit bomb.

"Thanks!" Goku said as he opened a telepathic link to the people of earth.  
"Everyone, listen! Galactus is going to eat the planet! We have no time left, you have to give me your energy! Raise your arms and concentrate on sending all of your energy to me!" Surprisingly, they listened. Everyone around the globe surrendered their ki, siphoning it into the ever - growing spirit bomb. The glowing sphere immediately enlarged to over 50 meters in radius. However, Goku was not done yet. He continued absorbing energy, not just from people, but from the earth itself, from all the plants, animals, rivers, rocks, deserts, oceans, all of the centers of the planet's life force. The spirit bomb continued to swell to absolutely massive proportions, even larger than the one that finally killed Buu. Meanwhile, Galactus, up on his ship, was making the final preparations to devour earth, however his cosmic senses suddenly detected an absolutely massive concentration of energy on the surface. Taking a closer look, it appeared as if one of the planet's defenders had summoned an incredibly powerful orb of energy. The Devourer of Worlds considered this to be an interesting development, but paid it little heed as he began to consume the world. He raised his massive arms, and energy flowed out of them, striking the planet along its equator and its poles. The entire earth shook with a vicious quake that began to tear it apart.

"It's now or never!" Gohan shouted over the din of the planet-quake.  
"Got it!" Goku yelled as he flung the spirit bomb as fast as he could directly at Galactus. It flew upwards into the sky, past the atmosphere, and approached the mighty cosmic being at a velocity that beggared the imagination. Galactus stopped his feeding momentarily to assess the new threat. Reaching out an arm, he caught the spirit bomb, and he glowed bright blue as the energy sphere slowly shrunk away into nothingness.  
"He - he absorbed it!" screamed Uub.  
"This is not good!" yelled Vegeta.

However, the doom they were waiting for did not come. Instead, the entire earth heard the booming voice of Galactus once more:  
"With this life energy, the hunger is satiated. For now. Your planet will be spared!"

Next: Epilogue


End file.
